Hmmm, maybe I'm not the right person to answer this for I have a strong preference for vintage Tokai's. But I've played 2 Korean models and just last week a Chinese model. They are not bad at all and personally I didn't notice much difference between the Korean & Chinese models but my MIJs really do sound MUCH better. You can notice this already by just playing them acoustically.
The building proces is supervised by Tokai so the end result is very decent. Hardware, electronics & pickup change will further improve sound for sure.
PS You might find Chinese Burny's better sounding than Chinese Tokai's.